Michael Gary Scott (born Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA) is a fictional character on NBC's The Office, portrayed by Steve Carell, and based on David Brent from the original British version. Michael, the central character of the series, is currently the manager (formerly co-manager) of the Scranton branch of paper and printer distribution company Dunder Mifflin Inc. Prior to being co-manager, he was the regional manager of the branch, but on the September 24th, 2009 episode "The Meeting", he was made co-manager with Jim Halpert; however, they returned to their original roles in "Manager and Salesman". In the fifth season, Michael Scott briefly left his position to start his own company, The Michael Scott Paper Company. Dunder Mifflin purchased the Michael Scott Paper Company in an episode that aired on April 23, 2009 and as part of the agreement rehired Scott as the regional manager.

In many instances in the show it is heavily implied that Michael tries to use his subordinates as a substitute for a family, which he does not have. Michael insists everyone in the office think of him as a friend first, a boss second, and "probably an entertainer third", as did David Brent in the British version. Michael holds inflated views of himself and considers himself an office comedian, but his attempts at humor tend to fail. Often, he says things that are inappropriate, offensive or unwittingly mean in the hopes of getting a laugh. He lacks maturity and self-awareness, has few friends and is quite lonely, made worse because his efforts to make friends with people usually backfire. Michael will resort to any means possible to make himself the center of attention and often takes credit for the successes of others. His subordinates, with the exception of Dwight Schrute, think of him as inept and several of them remark that they get their work done when Michael is distracted.

Michael wasn't always an incompetent employee at Dunder Mifflin. Before he was promoted to regional manager, he was a great salesman, able to relate well with clients and using his personable attitude to his advantage. However, his promotion put him into a position above his level of competence, making him an embodiment of the Peter Principle.

All original series characters were adapted for the U.S. version. NBC programmer Traci Mclaughlin suggested Paul Giamatti to producer Ben Silverman for the role of Michael Scott, but the actor declined. Martin Short, Hank Azaria, and Bob Odenkirk were also reported to be interested. In January 2004, Variety reported Steve Carell of the popular Comedy Central program The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, was in talks to play the role. At the time, he was already committed to another NBC midseason replacement comedy, Come to Papa, but the series was quickly canceled, leaving him fully committed to The Office. Carell later stated he had only seen about half of the original pilot episode of the British series before he auditioned. He did not continue watching for fear that he would start copying Gervais' characterizations.